Christian Leaders: ‘Tear Down This Wall!’

INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Aug. 28 — The leaders of Jerusalem's Christians have rallied to demand an end to the construction of Israel's security wall through the West Bank, dividing Jews from Palestinians, according to Independent Catholic News.

In an open letter to Israeli and Palestinian leaders Aug. 27, the Christian leaders repeated their calls for peace.

“Let no one doubt our abhorrence of violence whoever the perpetrator,” said the letter, which was signed by Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah and Franciscan Custos Giovanni Battistelli, among others. “Peace will only be established when violence is eradicated from both sides. If the present Road Map for Peace is to bring positive results, we believe the Separation Wall constitutes a grave obstacle. To both nations the wall will result in a feeling of isolation.”

The letter's signers, who included the Greek Catholic and Armenian patriarchs of Jerusalem and the Syrian Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, also said a wall around Bethlehem will have “devastating” consequences for the Christian Community.

On the Menu in China: Human Rabbits

CULTURE & COSMOS, Aug. 26 — Researchers in China have combined DNA from humans and rabbits to create hybrid embryos, the Culture of Life Foundation said in its e-mail newsletter, Culture & Cosmos.

Citing a Washington Post article saying some 400 hybrids were made “by fusing human skin cells with rabbit eggs,” the foundation said 100 of them survived to the blastocyst stage, at which point they were killed for their embryonic stem cells.

The newsletter noted that part of the problem with attempting to use human clones to cure diseases is that “hundreds of millions of human eggs would be needed to try to cure and then treat even a single disease.” Those eggs, the foundation noted, would likely come from women in poor countries, who could become “the targets of a massive egg harvests, a process that is both painful and dangerous to the woman.”

The Chinese experiments attempted to resolve this shortage, using human skin cells inserted into the eggs of rabbits, the newsletter said.

Culture & Cosmos registered surprise that policymakers in the European Union, who oppose genetic manipulation of plants, “so far remain silent on cross-species manipulation of mammals.”

Russian Icon Killing Staff?

THE TELEGRAPH, Sept. 4 — An icon of Christ has been removed from the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on claims that its “energy” is killing staff, according to the London daily.

The icon has led to the deaths of several supervisors, said Boris Sapunov, an official at the museum.

Sapunov noticed for years that people in contact with the icon suffered from high blood pressure, general malaise and headaches, He claimed part of the painting has a “negative bio-field.”

“When the custodians' seats were moved away all the trouble stopped,” he said.

But nothing was ever done in response to his complaints until a Russian tabloid picked up the story.

Hermitage officials dismissed Sapunov's claims, however. One called him a “nutty professor” and said that only one worker in contact with the icon died. And she had cancer.